Five Reasons Why I Love Elva

I feel so lucky to have landed in Elva’s house for my month in Panama.  She is a wonderful woman and I am going to miss her incredibly when I leave.  Here are the highlights of why I love my Panamanian Mama so much:

Elva my Panamanian Moma

1.)    She Talks Slowly.  I am getting to the point where (with a little of the dictionaries help) I can read and write most simple stuff in Spanish.  I am even starting to be able to express myself with confidence.  The hardest part for me is listening to a Spanish speaker and trying to understand what the hell they are saying.  It’s nearly impossible!  Elva speaks slowly and if I have a blank look on my face she rephrases things in another way for me to try and understand.  If I don’t know a word she will act it out for me so I can guess.  I feel more comfortable conversing with her than anyone else!

2.)    She Loves Bob Marley.  Her lives her life ‘muy tranquillo’ as she says, I think it’s pretty self-explanatory in English.  It’s fitting for her demeanor that Elva loves Bob Marley; she sings to the songs and dances around the house all the time.  She was suitably impressed that I had just seen Damien Marley live at Coachella!  Along the same sing song note, Elva also loves Glee and we watch it on TV in Spanish!

3.)    She Includes Me With Her Friends.  She is really trying to make my time here memorable and authentic.  After dinner we often go on walks together to her friends’ houses, the women start talking a million miles a minute and I can barely pick up a word, but its fun!  Last week she took me to a Birthday Party.  I couldn’t believe it - they sang two versions of Happy Birthday - the English one and a Panamanian Song (not just the normal words in Spanish, but a special song). 

4.)    She Knows Everyone.  Elva grew up in Boquete and I don’t exaggerate when I say she knows everyone.  Usually we eat dinner at home, but a couple times we have gone out together to local a restaurant and she buys me dinner (at local places a large dinner w/ drink is about $2.50).  This is always really fun because she knows EVERYONE and they all stop by to say hi to us!

5.)    She Has A Blender & She Loves It.  Anyone who knows me very well knows that I believe the blender is the most important kitchen appliance…by far.  In her quite modest kitchen, Elva’s blender is front and center.  She blends up the most delopsh liquidos (smoothies with ice) and batidos (milkshakes) in the entire world.  Fresh Mango, Pineapple, Passion Fruit, and Papaya are my favorites…Banana is also a keeper!